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MEDIA RELEASE: Wellington Free Wi-Fi hits a million sessions

16 May 2012

After just seven months, Wellington’s Free Wi-Fi network, CBDFREE, has been accessed more than one million times.

CBDFREE provides a free wireless Internet service to locals and visitors throughout Wellington’s ‘Golden Mile’. The network was launched in September 2011 by a partnership of Wellington City Council and CityLink Limited, and immediately attracted thousands of users per day. On average, it is now used more than 180,000 times by 30,000 smart phones, tablets and laptops, every month.

“We are delighted to bring this free service to Wellingtonians and visitors to the city using our fibre and wireless infrastructure.” says Brian Phillips, Chief Operating Officer of CityLink, “CityLink has always been an enabler for Wellington’s vibrant business community and CBDFREE brings serious broadband out of the office and into your hand. It has never been easier or cheaper to get online”

CBDFREE is underwritten by funding from WCC and CityLink’s extensive broadband networks, and part funded by sponsors. Users can connect to the internet for a thirty minute session, by viewing and selecting one of the sponsors. There is no limit to the number of times a user can connect.

CBDFREE is owned and operated by CityLink. A subsidiary of NZX listed, mobile radio company TeamTalk, CityLink is best known for building an ‘ultra-fast’ fibre optic broadband network in Wellington 16 years ago. CityLink also has also owned and operated New Zealand’s most extensive public access Wi-Fi network, CaféNET, for more than a decade.